What does Big Data and Sherlock Holmes have in common?

What’s common between a Great Detective’s work and Big Data Analytics? They both find insights from enormous amounts of accumulated data and use it to solve problems and find answers. Whether it’s the mysterious disappearance of your once loyal customer or the curious case of cart abandonment, Big Data Analytics can be hired as the detective to solve these cases.

Like the world renowned fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, who can sort through 243 types of tobacco ashes and tell the difference, Big Data and Analytics can sort through thousands of customer data and pinpoint facts that lead to business benefits. Maybe your loyal customer left because he/she got better, customized deals from a competitor of yours, someone who abandoned the cart may be looking for a more relevant product. Searching through purchase history, digging through browsing patterns Big Data Analytics can explain hundreds of scenarios and possible solutions within a short time.

As Sherlock takes out his magnifying glasses, keeps notes in his mind’s palace and uses his process of elimination to deduce the facts, Big Data and Analytics uses tools such as Wi-Fi, beacons and Bluetooth to gather data and algorithms to dissect them to find results. Following the trail of purchases and store visits these Big Data technologies can grant you a 360 degree view of your customers’ lives so that you can come up with personalized offers, lure in new customers and retain existing ones.

As a retailer, “what does the customer want?” is the biggest mystery to solve. There is no definite answer at one point of time given the wide range of customer base making the matter more complex. Hiring the Big Data Sherlock and assigning him the task of constantly solving the mystery of what your customers want will ease your efforts and let you invest your time in bettering your business.

Shreyasee Ghosh is responsible for handling various kinds of marketing content including whitepapers. She has a 1st class 1st Graduation degree in Mass Comm & Journalism. In a career spanning over four years she has worked at a renowned media organization and other IT companies.

Aspire Systems is a global technology services firm serving as a trusted technology partner for our customers. We work with some of the world's most innovative enterprises and independent software vendors, helping them leverage technology and outsourcing in our specific areas of expertise. Our services include Product Engineering, Enterprise Transformation, Independent Testing Services and IT Infrastructure Support services. Visit www.aspiresys.com for more information.